


Fried Orange Surprise

by HerbertBest



Category: Game Grumps, Good Game (TV 2017), Ninja Sex Party (Band)
Genre: Child Minding, Fatherhood, First Time Away From BAby, Fluff, Humor, Inverted Y, Kid Fic, M/M, Polyamory, Polyfidelity, Self-Doubt, parenting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2018-12-16
Packaged: 2019-09-20 04:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17015637
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HerbertBest/pseuds/HerbertBest
Summary: A direct sequel to "Popping the Bubble."  Danny watches his daughters while Alex and Dan try to resume their work lives.





	Fried Orange Surprise

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Chips_and_Ice_Cream](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chips_and_Ice_Cream/gifts).



> Read the first fic [Here!](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15162653)

The summer sun was blinding Dan as he rolled his stiff neck. He’d thought he’d get Alice to work out all of her extra excitement on her exercise mat, but it’d be a faulty hope. Instead, Alice had rolled herself onto her belly and out of Dan’s grip, her soft, warm body splayed itself across the blanket. She giggled, her little fists clutching the cotton and worrying it.

Dan watched her with his face propped against his open palm. The baby was getting bigger all the time; soon, or so the books he’d obsessively studied for months told him, she’d be toddling by herself across the lawn; her babbles would become words, and those words would become many words. Inside of her, the world reformed and divided. It was so weird and cosmic, and Dan could definitely feel time passing by just looking at her face.

He didn’t like to think of it too often.

He heard Danny yelling before he arrived, running with a stuffed bear tucked under his elbow and with a picnic basket clutched in his hand. “I’m so sorry, I got stuck going on a mystical journey with my alien rock band friends to an uncharted planet…”

Dan raised an eyebrow. Danny was wearing some kind of lycra Starlight Express get-up. He imagined that it was pretty squeaky when he bent over. Alice took one look at him and welled up.

“Aww , no! Baby!” Danny crooned and got on his knees and pulled her to his chest. Dan smiled, almost in spite of himself. The love between them was so clear and easy. “What?”

“Why are you dressed like that?” Dan asked.

“It’s a long story,” Danny said. “Ninja Brian and I were at our house having breakfast together, and then Havve Hogan came out of the refrigerator…”

“Say no more,” Dan said. He shivered., hey’d been talking about recording an NSP video that had a similar storyline idea going on once he’d finished losing his pregnancy weight. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“I’m always glad I’m here,” Danny said, his tone typically spacy. He sat with Alice on his folded feet and watched her try to balance on his skinny legs, reaching up for his curls.

“So…you know we’re going to go on tour?”

“Yep, you’ve only told me three million times so far,” Danny said indulgently.

Dan laughed. “Dude, seriously, I need to know if you remember what I told you. Alice needs someone to look after her while I’m gone, and if you have to take her to Alex’s world I’m cool with it, but just give me some warning beforehand. All right?”

Danny nodded. “Right. I wouldn’t just take her and go off.”

“But,” Dan said, “be sure to keep in touch with Arin and Suzy. They have keys to my place in case you need anything.”

“I know,” he said patiently. Then, “when are you leaving again.”

Dan groaned. “Next week!”

“Next Friday, five your time, in the morning. Got it! And I won’t forget it.”

“Better not. Or I’ll have Arin and Suzy watch her,” he said.

“She’ll be spoiled to death! Oh no!” said Danny, his mock-melodramatic tone making Dan laugh.

He supposed he could’ve made a worse choice for a boyfriend.

Far, far worse.

***

Alex had re-organized Gigi’s playpen forty times, but he still seemed to be forgetting the tiniest, most minute details. Everything had to be perfect, everything had to look right. 

Being a single dad had brought a lot of unexpected anxiety, and a lot of unexpected joy into Alex’s life. She had given him such purpose, such a reason for being alive, just as he’d hoped she would.She wasn’t a joy dispensing machine, though - she was a human being with feelings. He adored his daughter, but he also wanted to make sure that she was safe. When he became a dad, Alex realized an important truth – everything became dangerous. Cats could have rabies; the rain could be made of acid; the moon could be made of cheese. It was a hell of a scary world out there, and every inch of it seemed to want to eat him and his daughter whole at every single opportunity.

As for being loved by her, well, he worried sometimes. Most days, it felt like he was the very center of her universe, that no one would ever replace him.It felt like the love between them would always be a powerful pull – that she’d end up loving him forever, just like he’d always envisioned while he was pregnant with her. But Gigi loved everyone, just like he did –she wasn’t the font of emotion and love that he’d always hoped he’d feel after giving birth. No matter, he supposed that at least he was getting better at being a father. At least she loved him, even when she was feeling sick or sad or blue, even if she liked Ryland better sometimes.

And Ryland – who had gradually gone from being the most stressed-out person Alex had ever known regarding the baby – was regarding the scene of panic before him with somewhat sanguine calmitude.

“Just relax, man. I’m sure Danny has Pampers on his planet.”

“What if he buys her alien pampers, and they send her doodie off to another dimension? What if my baby’s poop causes a war, Ryland?”

“I think that’d be the first time shit ever caused a war, and it’d be fucking epic,” he said happily.

Alex frowned, but then smiled. The little girl was the very center of his universe. “It would. But sweetie,” he said to his daughter, “If other-daddy does something like leave you in another dimension, or tries to trade you to some kind of bloodthirsty alien being, you scream your head off, okay? Danny’s not heartless, he’s just…confused.”

“Um,hello. I can totally hear you, not cool.” Danny had slipped into the room without any of them hearing him, and his presence made Gigi scream in delight.

“If you keep spoiling her like that she won’t want anyone but you to hug her,” said Dan. Danny kissed his earlobe and he sighed. 

“I can’t help it – I guess it’s like the result of not getting to spend too much time with her.” He took Gigi into his arms. “Well, darling apple of my junk, are you ready to go on a trip with other-daddy?”

She squealed her approval.

“Are you sure it’s not too much trouble to take her for awhile?”

“Sure! It’s just a couple of hours, right?”

Alex nodded. “Extra practice, just in case you need to take her for a long time.”

“I can do that. I mean, I know how to give her a bath, I know how to change her – how to feed her, walk her…”

“And I can let go of her for a couple of hours while I go to the regionals!” Alex said. 

“Right!” said Danny.

“No problems at all!” said Alex.

“I know!” Danny said. 

“Promise me you’ll be careful with her,” Alex said.

“I’ll always be careful with her,” vowed Danny. 

Gigi rested her head contentedly on his shoulder and sucked at her fingertips, watching Alex as if he were the silliest creature ever. Of course other daddy knew what he was doing!

Alex ruffled the little girl’s hair and let her go with a sigh. “Okay then. Have a good time,” he said. “But not too good of a time. I’ll miss you!” As Danny picked up the bag and bottles and made a move for the door, he kissed Alex’s cheek one more time. “Love you!” he added, following them.

“Alex!” Ryland called him back.

It was all he could do to keep Alex from following his daughter out the door. 

**** 

Danny had Gigi on his lap and was speaking long nonsense sentences to her while Brian flew the Time Musheen back to the moon. Danny had gotten tiny space suits for Gigi and Alice, in case either of them wanted to or needed to visit him. 

“And then we’re gonna watch some cartoons…” he trailed off and stared at the messy interior of the moonbase. “Ninja Brian, did we remember to clean up after the last dildo orgy?”

Brian nodded firmly. “Oh Good. I wouldn’t want to expose my little girl to anything untoward.”

He took a step and immediately stepped and slipped on a puddle of lube. Gigi, tossed in the air, was effortlessly caught by Ninja Brian, who was squeaking a tiny rubber clown before her eyes by the time Danny came to.

“That’s why I keep you around, Ninja Brian. That and the way your totally barftageous face turns off all the ladies and drive them into my wide-open arms.”

Ninja Brian responded by quietly stabbing Danny right between the ribs with the sharpened edge of the toy. 

“Did you just try to kill me with a clown statue?! Dude, not cool!” 

As Danny deflated slightly, he wondered to himself what he’d done to deserve that.

****

Danny spent the next few hours just trying to keep Gigi entertained.Since she was as wide-eyed and sensitive as her other-father, that proved difficult. Danny was not a natural father, though he wanted to be one. His biggest goal was to do something that would make the girl smile every single day. Unfortunately that involved a lot of hit and miss, trial and error. 

Dancing worked the most. She really liked dancing. That was the wonderful part of her that made her his daughter, a tiny little reflective representation of Danny’s own immortality. She clung to him and stared at him with his own bright brown eyes. And Danny could feel himself getting lighter as they swirled around in circles.

Ninja Brian watched at a distance, knitting something pink and green. The color combination was bright and obnoxious, and not something that would otherwise have gone well in the room.t Danny indulged him. Brian did the decorating, Danny did the designing. That was how their partnership had always worked out. Nothing would change that now, not even the fact that Danny had two little girls to look after. 

Eventually, Brian took her into his arms and carried her into the kitchen. He served her strained fried oranges and bananas with breast milk, and she chomped it down with her two little teeth.

Her response to his intense glare was beautiful, high-pitched chattering laughter. Yep, she was definitely his kid.

Danny was careful to avoid lying her on her stomach when she went down that night. He was cautious about everything, from making sure she could breathe from beneath the dinosaur hide blankets Ninja Brian had sold for her to making sure her Rush music box wasn’t discordant.

She drifted off into a peaceful sleep and he watched her quietly, leaning against the railing of the crib. Thinking of nothing, but hoping she’d have good dreams.

All he could really do was hope. 

*** 

“What do you mean, we need to do a live tour?”

Arin sounded surprisingly calm. “I mean that we’re about twenty k in the hole this month expense wise and this should probably fix everything.”

“Won’t doing a tour be even more expensive?” Dan was bouncing Alice as he walked her, humming through his nose.He was trying to stay calm. The last thing he wanted to do was panic and freak his little girl out.

“Dude, I promise I wouldn’t be throwing this shit on you if I didn’t think we needed to do it. It’ll only take the weekend, I swear. Uh, Look, I’ll give you a private bus and you can bring Alice with you…”

“Arin, that’d just cost too much money.” He sighed. “I guess I can call Danny and see if he’d like to take care of her for the weekend…”

“I’m never gonna get over Alice being like, the weird result of you having an orgy with your alter ego in space.”

“Pft. Tell me about it.” He looked into Alice’s eager face and grinned. She grinned back, and his heart fluttered. “So I guess I’m gonna have to poke around for a sitter. Let me get back to you in a couple of hours, okay, man?”

“Sure, take all the time you need. I get it, man, I don’t wanna cause a problem with your…whatever the hell you have going on with Danny and Alex.”

“We don’t try to define it. We’re a unique, modern couple with unique, modern problems and unique ways to settle them.”

“Woah. Don’t go all hippie on me, dude. I’ll call you back tomorrow if I don’t see you at the space. Sure you can handle everything?”

“Arin. We’re fine.” He gently pressed Alice a little closer to his heart before hanging up.

Sitting down with her resting against his chest, Dan thought back to her wrenching birth. He marveled for a second time at her completeness. It had been agony to go through, yet he’d survived the scarring with nary a look backward. Not that he’d ever do it again – Alice would likely be an only child – but he would never regret giving birth to her. Though, he thought as she pouted up at him through her head of curls, he sometimes wondered if she regretted being his daughter. She was independent and then clingy; variable as he was, controlled by her moods. Dan worried about spoiling her, then worried that he wasn’t giving her enough attention. He worried that she was going to grow up and resent him – just like he’d resented Avi for a little while, before he’d grown old enough to appreciate Avi.

Alice would probably feel the same way about Dan, too.

Someday.

He looked down at her and she met his eyes, an adorable smile lighting her features up. When Dan gently pulled her close to him and walked her over to the communicator room he’d set up.

“C’mon, baby. Let’s see what other daddy’s up to.”

*** 

Danny was coated with spaghetti.

From the top of his head to the tips of his toes, he was doused in marinara. That wasn’t what he’d intended when he’d started feeding Gigi her dinner, but she’d gotten her little hands into the meal and was gleefully feeding herself, resisting his attempts at spooning it into her mouth.

Even Brian was messy, though his expression was far more unimpressed than Danny’s commanding one. “Ninja Brian, the baby’s food is being problematic. Bring out…the mallet!”

Ninja Brian threw his hands up and headed for the supply closet as Danny’s communicator beeped. “Hey, baby!” he said. “Talk to me,”

“…That sounds a thousand times cheesier when it’s coming out of your mouth,” Dan complained fondly. Danny grinned and waved at Alice, who burbled and bounced in Dan’s grip.

“I might be cheesy, but you love what I monger,” said Danny agreeably. “What’s up, buttercup?”

“Um, I know this is last minute – and you look like you have Gigi with you?”

“Oh yeah! Alex had one of his special game things going on,” said Danny, who shrugged. “I’m watching Gigi for the weekend. It’s just until he gets back.”

“That’s great, ‘cause Arin asked me to go out of town to do some Grumping,” Dan said. “I need someone to watch Alice. Um, I know this is really short-notice.”

The panic in Danny’s eyes washed away as his expression took on a determined cast. “She’s my little girl, and I’d be proud to help take care of her.”

“You’re sure it’s not too much?”

Danny laughed with all of the confidence of an anime villain. “Ninja Brian’s killed over a hundred men with a single gesture and I’ve killed evil hellbeasts with one hand tied behind my back. I can surely take care of two beautiful little girls without falling apart.”

Behind him, Ninja Brian had found the mallet and was aiming it at Alice’s plate. Dan let out a muffled gasp and stared in confusion at the scene going in before him – but Ninja Brian only rested the hammer just above the plate. With lightning quickness, he smashed and diced up the pasta for the baby into smaller bites; easier for her to fork them into her mouth solo, and less likely to end up strung through Danny’s hair like Christmas lights. 

“Send a shuttle for me,” Dan said. “I’ll be right there.”

“Absolutely. Ninja Brian will take the Half Chub to greet you.”

“Thank you for that mental image,” Dan said.

“You’re welcome!” Danny chirped, oblivious.

Only when Dan had placed his daughter in Danny’s arms did he feel a pang of loneliness. He worried that he’d managed to make things harder for himself by leaving his daughter on an entirely different planet.

*** 

Danny and Brian worked elbow-to-elbow getting the girls bathed and ready for bed. He hoped he wasn’t ruining their sleeping schedules too much by putting them down this early. But they were washed clean and placed side-by-side in the space bassinet he’s bought for them. With a hand on the bassinette’s rim, he rocked them both quietly and hummed under his breath. He didn’t move until they were finally back on the moon base. When they were both entirely asleep.

He hit the living room with a sigh, two babies carefully transferred into the nursery he’d painstakingly hand-crafted for the both of them. He watched over them silently guarding them, wishing he could always make them feel so safe.

That was a fresh emotion for him. He’d only been a dad for roughly six months, so he supposed he was due moments of emotional frivolity like those.

But then again he had every right to be as sappy and emotional as possible. He’d spent so many years dreaming of princesses. He’d thought he’d marry one, but instead he’d created two of them.

Danny didn’t regret a minute of it. 

“Aren’t they beautiful, Ninja Brian?”

Ninja Brian’s expression was dry, but accepting. He sat knitting beside the cradle – two sets of booties, one blue and one yellow. Dan had wanted pink but Danny loved blue as much as he did, so it was rapidly becoming the signature color of Alice. Yellow was for something sunshiney, for Alex, who surrounded himself with yellow to keep himself happy, healthy and smiling. 

“That’s what I thought too. But then again, your tiny brain couldn’t truly comprehend the gorgeous beauty of my two tiny daughters. They’re celestial beings of glorious existence who couldn’t possibly…” He trailed off when he felt a sharp pinprick in his chest. Ninja Brian had thrown a knitting needle at his chest like a javelin and hit him mid-breast. Effortlessly and cleanly.

“That…ow…Not in front of the girls!” Danny protested, his words jumbling up as he collapsed.

*** 

He recovered quickly that time, and by way of apology Ninja Brian even made them both dinner. And it was gourmet – and not laced with one of the thousands of poisons that Danny well knew Brian had access to. Danny washed the dishes, and together they sat down and had cupcakes sitting next to a roaring fire.

It got cold on the moon. Danny had never noticed that until he had been forced to reckon with it alone. Always there had been a girl or a man with him – now he sat with Brian listening to the fire pop as he made a stuffed unicorn bounce on his knee. Brian was restringing his viola. Danny wondered what he was going to play when a wailing came from the nursery. 

Both girls were awake; they needed diaper changes and a midnight feeding. Just as he got them both down they were back up again, demanding to be walked, to be dandled, for his dancing. 

The more tired Danny got, the more energetic they seemed to be. With bleary eyes sometime past sunrise, he turned to Ninja Brian. “How often do they _do this?” Danny asked Brian._

_Brian rolled his eyes and kept on passing him applesauce and diapers._

_***_

_Alex didn’t want to admit he was stressed out, but he was pretty freaked. His daughter was alone on a planet, and his team was in fourth place. He’d managed to be overwhelmed by a horde of barbarians near the latest rest period._

_“We need to be savage! We need to bareour teeth and show our claws!”_

_“I knew I should have bought that bear costume the last time I was downtown,” sighed Lorenzo._

_“Positive thought! But tragically too late to implement it!” Alex sat down with a huff. “Ryland, I need you to focus! Ash, stay behind him no matter what! Sam, keep slaying! Kama, keep shining and grinding. Lorenzo just try not to kill anyone on our side, all right?”_

_“Fuck you, dude, I was kicking major ass!” Lorenzo said. The entire team paused and stared at him. “What? I’m not allowed to have a moment now and again?”_

_“Please don’t have a moment on the stream,” Alex begged “We can’t afford any more league fines after Kamal told that guy with the hand puppet to suck his nuts.”_

_“But he needed to suck it,” Kamal said. “Um…I mean them!”_

_“He can suck it on his own time!” Alex groaned. “Please, just act like normal people. I’m so tired and my boyfriend might be bartering my daughter’s life for alien Viagra…”_

_“He’s not smart enough to do that,” Ryland said._

_“Will you please give him a little credit? I bet Danny could sell Gigi for…” Ryland squinted at Alex, his reaction to the. “I’m sorry I’m on edge. This is the first time I’ve spent any time away from Gigi at all and it’s starting to get to me.”_

_“We know,” said Ash. “You’re like, shaking. Sit down and do some shots with me.”_

_“No more booze,” said Alex. “I need to keep my mind clear. And you need to do what I fucking say!”_

_“Yes sir!” Sam said, saluting him._

_“Look, dude, if you want me to make contact with your weird alien boyfriend while you take a break…”_

_“No no, it’s fine! I’m a working father, I can handle this!” Alex said._

_“You’re sure you’re not having that like… separation thing? Where you get all panicky because you can’t see her?”_

_“Oh Ryland! I can always see her!” he pulled his phone up and pulled up a photo gallery. His phone was filled with pictures of Gigi – Gigi with her other father, Gigi with Ryland, Gigi with the rest of the team._

_Ryland noticed something else. “You deleted all the pictures you took of me sleeping,” he said._

_“I archived them in a special place,” Alex said, tapping his temple._

_“I don’t know if I should be happy or freaked out,” Ryland said. “Why don’t you just…call them or something before the next round though? We’ll be fine.”_

_“Well, if you insist…” Alex scampered outside and immediately dialed Danny’s number._

_***_

_When Danny’s communicator rang he let out a groan. Ninja Brian was on the floor, trying to keep the girls from crawling into mischief while hovering over them, holding a large squeaky rabbit toy that made them both squeal in delight. “Ugh, if this is the guy selling manatee meat, I already told you…” He straightened up when he saw Alex staring at him, eyes huge, all done up in his suit. “Hello, baby! What’s up?”_

_“Nothing, everything’s cool, super cool, where’s my daughter I need to see her face show her to me now. Um. Please.”_

_Danny stared at him. His face was spattered with red and green, the result of the girls’ lunch. He had a spit-up towel on his right shoulder. He was wearing a baggy old tee-shirt and a pair of ancient jeans that made him look too much like Dan for his comfort. “Okay..just…let me…” Danny’s back made a creaking sound as he bent down and retrieved Gigi from the floor. “There’s other-daddy,” he cooed. “Can you see him?”_

_Alex’s facial features relaxed as he saw his daughter. “Oh hello! Hello, sweetie! How’s my baby girl?” Gigi gurgled and kicked. “She looks…a little sticky, have you been bathing her?”_

_“Yes, three times a day,” Danny said. He sounded a little hysterical._

_“Are you sure you’re going to be alright, Danny?” There was concern and love in Alex’s eyes._

_Danny didn’t expect to see it. He felt like he was failing as a father in every single possible respect._

_“Yeah,” Danny lied. Because what could he do but continue to lie? He couldn’t make Alex come home and he couldn’t make himself magically more competent. He’d have to weather this storm until the men he loved came home and back for him._

_“Daddy loves you,” he told Gigi. “And I love you too.”_

_The words made Danny’s knees buckle a little – with fear and in an awe of respect. He’d never heard those words from someone he’d loved in return. Had never dared to love someone this fully, and have never thought he’d receive an abundance of love lavished on him in return._

_He felt a little wibbly when he finally said, “I love you too,” and hung the phone up._

_There was a moment or two where he held Gigi and just stared out into space. Ninja Brian poked his shoulder, bouncing foot to foot – little Alice was in his arms. Danny forced himself to snap out of it. He had to be a dad now – the kids were depending on him._

_And yet._

_“Ninja Brian – watch the children. I need to take a walk.”_

_The implied was ‘alone’. Brian didn’t fight him. Brian, in fact stayed quiet as Danny retreated. He put on his space suit and bounced along the surface of the moon, feeling a little absurd when he’d normally felt sexy and vital._

_He supposed that was the ultimate price of aging. What used to be cool suddenly became massively uncool, and all the things you swore you’d never do and say and feel as a parent you end up doing, saying, and feeling._

_He was a jumble of emotions, and he hated feeling that way. Normally he was quite self-assured, but today he was rolling through the depths of his own heart._

_After a long time, he returned home. The girls were playing with blocks, and Brian was moving them about the chessboard of the floor with his mind. The girls looked up, seeing him, and let out twin squeals of happiness._

_It was like taking a sledgehammer of love right to the chest._

_***_

_Dan forced himself to avoid calling in until they arrived in Canada. He was nervous from the show, running on a high wire over the chasm of his own fear. Everything felt like it was too close, and he chilled out alone backstage, away from Arin and the pressure to be on Away from the pressure to be ‘Danny Sexbang’, whoever Danny Sexbang was now that he was Dan’s lover and a man he played onscreen. But he waited until he was offstage and sitting in a restaurant waiting for pizza before he pulled out his cellphone and hailed Danny’s frequency._

_Danny was wearing a hoodie. A sequin-covered hoodie, but a hoodie nonetheless. He peered at Danny, and Danny looked back with the most miserable expression on his face._

_“What’s wrong?” he asked._

_“Nothing –the girls are asleep. I just feel…ugggh you don’t wanna hear about my feelings!” he said._

_“Actually,” said Dan, “I’m all ears. It’s important to get your feelings out, and you’re ready to burst.”_

_Danny scrubbed a hand over his face. “A year ago I was a smooth seducer of ladies and men and aliens and rocks and plant life…”_

_“…I get the picture…”_

_“…Everywhere.”Danny said. “And now I’m…I love being a dad, I’m so prod of being a dad. But I’m also TOTALLY SOMEONE’S FUCKING DAD.”_

_“Okay, so you’re freaking out?”_

_“Only a little,” he grumbled. “I’ve never taken care of both girls at the same time. And I keep getting things wrong, and messing up.”_

_“You’re a human being, Danny. You’re going to make mistakes,” said Dan. It’s not like you’ve sold her for magic beans or something. Um, you haven’t done that, have you?”_

_Danny stared at him icily, and Dan held up his hands. “I’ve got it, I withdraw the question.”_

_“It’s a lot to get used to. I guess you understand, right?”_

_“Yeah.” Dan could feel his stretch marks, the long-healed tug of stitches where he’d been cut open by his surgeon. “But I’m glad I have to get used to it.”_

_“And I’m glad it’s you. I’m glad our girls are here!” he said quickly._

_“Yeah,” said Dan. “It’s just a lot.” He remembered his mother scolding him – saying he always tended to leap before he looked. Well, there hadn’t been a more classic example of that in his recent memory than having a baby with an alien rock god from another dimension._

_“I’ll see you at the end of the weekend,” said Danny. “I promise everything will be okay.”_

_Dan could only hope it would be._

_***_

_It was a cozy, comfortable day. Danny learned how to make chocolate pudding and all four of them ate messily together, even Ninja Brian, his mouth stuffed full of food._

_For the first time it felt like Dannyhad a grasp on fatherhood. For the first time it felt like he wasn’t messing up – like he was wanted, needed. Kids were easy. You played with them. You made blanket forts and gave horsey rides. You got out your stuffed unicorns and made them dance across the floor. You tried to make them happy._

_Much easier to please than an angry Venusian woman with six vaginas._

_***_

_Alex showed up with a trophy on Monday morning, and smothered Gigi with kisses. “I missed you so much,” he said, looking right into Danny’s eyes._

_“I missed you too,” Danny admitted, almost shyly. The kiss was sweet, but Alex fled quickly, Allowing Ninja Brian to take them both home._

_Brian returned with Dan, whose knees knocked together when he saw Alice hale and well in Danny’s arms. “Oh, I missed you,” he sighed. She squealed and threw her arms around him, and Dan made soothing sounds._

_“Did I do all right?” Danny asked softly._

_“Oh, definitely,” said Dan, eyes plastered on his daughter’s face._

_Relief filled Danny’s face. “Good,” he said._

_Then he pitched forward in a dead faint._


End file.
